Worms 2

"Who would have thought that making worms shoot each other was more fun than eating them?"

Continuing on with the fine tradition of weirdness and wackiness that was set in the first Worms game is this great addition to the series Worms 2! It offers a huge host of improvements over the original and will give anyone that plays it a huge amount of enjoyment.

The graphics have been done very well, it's a very cartoony look and one that is very aesthetically pleasing to look at. At the beginning you’ll be treated to some great FMV sequences (although they’re the only ones in the game) which mainly consist of Worms being blown up, they typify the type of humor which is evident in this game. The landscapes that you wage war on are simple shapes, there's a large number of weird templates and accompanying objects for you to choose from (including some great choices like Cheese, Manhattan and Hell) which look very spiffy. There's a good amount of detail that's gone into all of the backgrounds, with various objects falling from the sky and some great use of tones to make a very pretty background picture indeed.
The worms themselves have been given a huge size enhancement over the previous games, this makes controlling the adorable little things a much easier and more forgiving task. In the previous games they were so small you often had no idea what you were doing, but thankfully this problem has been rectified. There’s some great animation’s that the worms and other supporting characters perform, they make the cast of the game seem more alive and are also very entertaining.
There’s a great load of special effects inside this game (explosions seem to be a favourite), they’re all very flashy and some go as far as to looking intimidating, it’s one heck of a light show for anyone that sees it. The weapons all look very foreboding (and what wouldn’t, placed in the hands of such a ferocious creature) and have been designed well.
Overall, the graphics help create the light-hearted atmosphere that the Worms series is so typical of. There’s a vast improvement here over the original game with everything being made much clearer, sharper and more colorful. A real pleasure to look at.

The sound has a surprising amount of depth to it; there’s just so many options, so many different sounds for you to tinker around with. For a start there’s up to twenty different voice schemes for you to grant upon your team of worms, nearly every ethnic group and funny accent you can think of can be assigned to your counterparts. There’s suck schemes as Soulman, New Yorker, Australian, Scottish, 007 and many others, it’s just up to you to pick the one that sounds the “coolest”. Each scheme has a large amount of one-liners, corny phrases and intelligent sayings to entertain the player, each one will keep you in hysterics…
There are also a large number of great background themes on offer, you can customize them completely by choosing what order to play them in, which ones just to completely turn off, you can make it so you’re listening to the background music of YOUR choice. It’s a great little feature that makes your playtime seem like a dream.
Of course there’s the usual array of wacky sound effects that everyone expects. They all sound as if they’ve come straight from a Looney Tunes cartoon, all those silly little sound effects that used to drive anyone nuts. They’re never out of place and are actually of a pretty high quality, also the explosions incorporated into the game are awesome. There’s not much that can compare to watching a priceless vase or old woman just detonate with a huge, solid, meaty bang.
Overall, the sound is definitely of high-class, it’s entertaining to listen to and it’s damn funny. Team 17 definitely should have released a soundtrack to accompany the game CD, a Worm Rap would definitely be a good idea. :P

The gameplay is pure bliss, particularly as a multiplayer game. Get a few friends together and you’ll find yourself in the middle of some of the most hard-fought competitive battles of your life, you’ll end up playing the game as if your life depended on the outcome. There’s also a huge amount of customizability to be found here, every single option, all of the weapons, everything in the game will have some feature to fiddle with. If you own the game then it’s easy to make your own option scheme to tip the odds in your favor.
The single player game isn’t quite up to the standards of the other sections of the game. You find yourself in an increasingly hard series of deathmatches, the victory of each will result in the hand-out of a password (these passwords make up quite an entertaining story, just another reason to play this game more) for future use. So there isn’t really much depth here for those who prefer to play on their own.
The reason that Worms is so much fun is probably because of the large number of weapons, whether they are real-life standard issue weapons or off the wall wacky little numbers. Some of the artillery you’ll be given are very ingenious with such beauties as the Super Sheep, Salvation Army, Homing Pigeon and maybe even the fabled “Concrete Donkey” at your disposal. Without these weapons Worms 2 just wouldn’t have the same frantic, mayhem filled action that everyone loves.
Despite its shallow appearance on the outer, Worms 2 is a deeply strategic game that requires quite a lot of thinking and tactical work if you hope to be successful in the long run when playing this game. Despite this need for cerebral input, the gameplay of Worms 2 is super fun, great with a mate and all of those other dumb clichés. It’s the ultimate time wasting game.

The lifespan of this game is positively huge, you can play this game for hours at a time without ever noticing your life slipping by. A person could miss appointments and be late for meetings just because of this game, it’s very addictive and if it doesn’t hook you in then there’s obviously something wrong with you. The lifespan of the single player is inferior to the one with a heap of friends, but the former will still get a helluva lot of play time from this one little disc.

There is a fantastic fun factor contained within Worms 2, this game (particularly with a group of other human beings) has the potential to provide unbridled joy to anyone and everyone who goes within a ten-meter radius of it. This is a very funny, very wacky game that will provide a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction to all-comers. At times the difficulty level of some computer teams can lead to frustration, but it will usually work out nicely in the end.

There is a great challenge provided. The single player missions have a steady learning curve, which indoctrinates players into the game slowly before hitting them with full force. There’s a number of difficulty levels for you to grant the computer teams, from the never hit you pack of idiots to the never miss you pack of smart-alecs, there’s a good challenge provided to people of all age and experience level. Every match is different, each one providing new obstacles and challenges to the player.

Overall, Worms 2 is one of the finest multiplayer games that money can buy. It has all the ingredients of a successful game and deserves a place in the collection of anybody that owns a PC. This game oozes originality, there are no games like it, so it’s recommended that you go out and have a Worms experience as soon as possible. You certainly won’t regret that you did.
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GOOD POINTS
- Dynamic sound effects and background music
- Wacky, addictive gameplay that will entertain anyone
- A good challenge for anyone that plays it

NOT SO GOOD POINTS
- There really aren’t any that spring to mind right away, you’d have to be digging deep to find some.
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GRAPHICS – 8/10
SOUND – 10/10
GAMEPLAY – 10/10
LIFESPAN – 9/10
FUN FACTOR – 9/10
CHALLENGE – 10/10
OVERALL – 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/00, Updated 06/13/00